Friday 2 March 2012

Building again...

Another lovely day here. Very cool to begin with but around 10.30am it was warm enough to begin working outside. Eventually, the temperature got up to 12 Celsius – lovely.

Yesterday we unpacked our 3 packages and started assembling them. The erection of said item took most of the day. I was not too much help as I could neither bend not stand for long with my hip hurting but we managed in the end.

Today, the royal we, have spent the morning digging out shallow troughs to transplant barley twist edging from one part of the garden to this new part. 


Then we had to lay and level them both vertically and horizontally. After that, the weed suppressant fabric was replaced and the gravel put back.


Lunchtime saw us eating home made sweetcorn soup, crackers and yoghurt.

We should have had more of a break before returning outside but could see the wind was picking up and the temperature dropping.

The final job for today was to move one bed with its accompanying edging back 6”, so it butts up against the newly transplanted ones.


So what are we building? What have I waited years for?

 
Yes folks - a fruit cage! It has even got a friendly wooden toucan inside.

Last year saw so much loss of fruit I actually got angry. Cheeky beggars, feed them all through winter and that's how they repay you! Around 7lb of gooseberries disappeared overnight, all my loganberries and most of my raspberries. Only the blueberries survived as they had some protection. I might add strawberries to the cage and even some purple sprouting broccoli as the butterflies normally decimate those.

It measures 3.5m long x 2.5m deep x 2m high and runs alongside the garage wall. It faces east so will get the sun until around 2pm before going into shade. Most of the plants are already in situ but I need to move my autumn fruiting raspberries and the loganberry into it. The forecast for the next three days is for showers or rain so we won't be able to complete this job until next week or even later.

My back is killing me but once the old spring sap starts rising, you have to answer the call!

6 comments:

  1. I am so jealous! Lots of jam this year then xxxx

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  2. I'm jealous too! I love it. I have just planted a gooseberry and blackcurrant bush, so I dread the onslaught of birds!

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  3. My gooseberries are Invicta which if picked for cooking I usually beat the birds to them. However, last year they swelled to such huge sweet things, they beat me to them.

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  4. Yes, the birds are ungrateful little so and so's when the fruit arrives. I'm sure your hard work preparing and putting up the cage will be worth it.
    Love your barley twist edging.
    Carol xx

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  5. Last year most of my fruit was stolen by 2 legged creatures - human beings! I tyhink I'm going to move some of the fruit from the allotment to home to stop them stealing everything.Whole fruit cages had been stripped at the allotment so we know it wasn't birds taking the fruit - unless they've learned how to open doors!

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  6. Want shooting don't they. I don't know why people think they have the right to steal from allotments.

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